European stocks retreat from multi-month tops ahead of Fed

The European equity markets brought an end to its recent winning streak and turned negative on Wednesday, retreating from eleven-month highs, as pre-Fed outcome nervous trading seeps into markets.

The Fed will conclude its two-day policy meeting later in the American afternoon, with a 25bps broadly priced-in, while the Committee will issue new forecasts assessing whether the economic outlook has changed since the Trump election win.

Moreover, tumbling oil prices combined with weaker treasury yields also added to the risk-off tone in the market, weighing negatively on the energy and banking sector stocks. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a fear gauge, rises +1.02% and suggests that risk-off persists in full swing.

Meanwhile, Germany's DAX 30 index drops -0.21% to 11,260 levels, while the UK's FTSE 100 index trades -0.18% lower at 6,955. Among the other indices, the French CAC 40 index declines -0.49% to 4,780, while the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index loses -0.50% to trade around 3,220 points.

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